ITunes version history

The history of iTunes begins in 1998 and continues to the present. Initially conceived as a simple music player, over time iTunes developed into a sophisticated multimedia content manager, hardware synchronization manager and e-commerce platform. The current version of iTunes enables users to manage media content, create playlists, synchronize media content with handheld devices including the iPod, iPhone and iPad, re-image and update handheld devices, stream Internet radio and purchase music, films, television shows, audiobooks and applications via the iTunes Store.

Apple based the initial release of iTunes on SoundJam MP, a program developed by Bill Kincaid and released by Casady & Greene in 1999. Apple purchased the program from Casady & Greene in 2000. At the time of the purchase, Kincaid, Jeff Robbin and Dave Heller left Casady & Greene to continue development of the program as Apple employees. At Apple, the developers simplified SoundJam's user interface, added the ability to burn CDs, and removed the program's recording feature and skin support.

Apple released version 1.0 of the program under a new name, "iTunes", on January 9, 2001, at Macworld San Francisco. Macintosh users immediately began poking through iTunes's resource fork, where they discovered numerous strings and other resources that indicated that iTunes was a re-engineered Sound Jam MP. Casady & Greene ceased distribution of SoundJam MP on June 1, 2001 at the request of the developers.

Originally a Mac OS 9-only application, iTunes began to support Mac OS X with the release of version 2.0 in October 2001. Release 2.0 also added support for a then-new product, the iPod. Version 3 dropped Mac OS 9 support but added smart playlists and a ratings system. In April 2003, version 4.0 introduced the iTunes Store; in October, version 4.1 added support for Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Introduced at Macworld 2005 with the new iPod Shuffle, Version 4.7.1 introduced the ability to convert higher-bitrate songs to 128kbit/s AAC automatically, as these devices did not natively support audio encoded in AIFF or Apple Lossless formats, also improving the value proposition of the Shuffle's limited flash-only storage. Version 7.0 introduced gapless playback and Cover Flow in September 2006. In March 2007, iTunes 7.1 added support for Windows Vista, and 7.3.2 was the last Windows 2000 version.

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